siouxfan512

Want to heat the rivalry back up instantly? It doesn't require a goal, a big hit, a cheap shot, a fight, or anything like that. When UND comes out for of the tunnel and the stand are filled .... do a nice brief skate with that National Championship trophy from last season. Oh man, would that fire people up ... haha. It would probably be a little classless, but it would be entertaining. haha.

Well, I have stayed away from this thread all week. I should have been totally amped up for this series, but was struggling a bit; just not as excited as I would normally be. Maybe it is National Champions hangover, maybe it is the poor/boring games last weekend against Duluth, maybe it is that I am totally jacked about UND football right now, maybe I'm just getting to be old. Reading Schloss's article this morning, and watching clips of all of the great times in this rivaly (Bina Goal, Trupp Goal, Porter Wraparound, The Timeout, etc.) IT IS ON!!! I can't wait to park myself in my chair tonight, crack a beer, and enjoy!! I know these kids have not played in this rivalry, but between some former players coming back, and all the clips on YouTube, ANYONE should be able to know what is at stake this weekend. I truly hope for an all out slaughter of the Gophers (extra points to anyone who throws dead gophers on the ice AT Mariucci). Can't wait to hear the Let's Go Sioux!!! chant through the TV, from Mariucci .... It'll be a thing of beauty. UND needs to get on the board first, and play with a lead for a change. This is a team that was swept by SCSU (who is a good team) but required OT to beat both Clarkson and St. Lawrence. If we can get up on them early, we can take them out of the game. Early pressure boys! DO IT! I'll be there tomorrow night and CAN'T WAIT!!!

Yeah, I'd prefer if UND stayed away from Roots Sports, as you can't even watch the game on Big Sky TV. It might make my Saturday's a little more productive, as I'd have to stick to radio and could get house work done, but I'd prefer to be able to keep watching the games.

Seeing how these first projections look, makes me pretty confident that even if UND wins out (heck even if we had a 1 loss season), we probably won't be getting a seed.

Yeah, what is that about?

Can't say I'm overly impressed with it. SHSU hasn't played anybody. And I would probably flip EWU and NDSU, given they had a head to head match up.

The really stupid part is they listed Fighting Hawks, but use a Bison logo. Someone should be fired purely for their stupidity and lack of common sense.

Yeah, I guess I remember this. I'd rather be playing in the playoffs.

Why do they opt out of the playoffs? What is the end game for them? I assume they can't be invited to a bowl, can they? Just not sure why a team wouldn't want to play in the playoffs.

I'm not going to bank on it. I'll say UND could maybe make the top 10 if they win their next two and get some help. But who knows!

I think what we will lose most in Keaton, other than the run capability he has shown, is just the leadership and demeanor he has on the field. Call it game management, call it field presence, call it what you want, but he does a good job of controlling what is going on with the team. I think that is what will be missed most if he does not play, beyond his physical play. Get rolling early and get a lead, and I think everything will come together just fine. UND is should definitely be in a position to win this game, even if you put LakesBison in at QB.

Maybe, depends how much extra they would bid, compared to how much extra revenue they would actually generate; and would the additional bid money from them really make much of a difference. If you knew you were going to host someone like MT, who would bring a bunch of fans, then they would probably consider it. If you ended up hosting Western Ill. then I don't think the donation would be in their best interest, as you probably won't recover what you are spending. For a business, its tough to make a blind contribution like then when you don't know what the results are. Though maybe they can write that off as a donation. Not sure.

I hadn't actually looked into, I was just going off of Haley's tweets.

If Bartels can consistently pass like the one he threw to toivenen (which was dropped), I wouldn't be too concerned. But consistency has been the question over the past few years. I don't see either QB being asked to throw much in this game, but they do have to throw some. We need some completions to keep the pass threat (err potential) there, but there will be a HEAVY dose of the ground game this week.O-Line need to step up in a BIG way.

Craig Haley was tweeting that this is very possible this year. The Big Sky had a better out of conference year than the Valley did. MVFC still had a nice year, especially with FBS games, but BSC had a nice year, especially head to head with MVFC teams.

Would be thrilled to have a seed, but I'll still admit MT scares me a bit. I think we would play them tough, especially at home, but their pass attack is can really hurt if they are clicking. Wouldn't mind hosting San Diego ... I believe that would be an Arnell vs. Arnell matchup, correct? You heard it hear first, the fix is in ... its all about story lines.

But we wouldn't know if we were seeded, until after the fact anyway, right? So does UND have to just bid, assuming they are not seeded?

Won't outbid Montana. Might not outbid SDSU. But there is zero reason that we still shouldn't be able to outbid and host Western Ill. Question .... IF, and its a big if, UND is able to position themselves for a seed, with 2 more wins, and probably some help, how does that affect the bidding process? Do they still need to place a competitive bid, as though they will not be seeded and wait to see?

Are we going to start a rumor that as soon as Keaton went down Heidelbaugh grabbed Bartel's helmet and quickly hid it? Cuz I'm all for starting rumors. haha

knew that guy would get slaughtered

For the WIN!

Except I think for the "Winning Solves Everything" theory to be in place, it needs to be consistent winning. You're not going to build up a hardcore fanbase in 5 or 6 home games. It more like 2-3 years, of consistent wins at home, along with some BIG wins. This season is a good start. Look at NDSU, they didn't build up the hype and fanbase in a year. It progressed year after year. 5 Nat'l Championships later, tickets are expensive, the Dome is sold out, and they have pretty much doubled the size of their tailgate lot. It doesn't all happen as quickly as we would like. Make the playoffs, Make some noise in the playoffs, and win consistently again next season, and you'll START to see those attendance number climb on a consistent basis. Just my opinion.

Well of course we want to win the Big Sky, but whether it is by ourselves or as co-champions doesn't matter a whole lot at this point. Especially since it is out of our control. UND needs to win out. It would be beneficial to also have E Wash beat Poly, as Poly would fall behind us in the rankings. Even with a E Wash loss, we would still be behind E Wash; but would also remain behind Poly.

Would have been nice to see Youngstown and Western Ill. win. USD really blew it at the end.